Excellent information, thank you. I found a hukari made by Taiter. It looks like an angry piece of steel; it is probably a very good tool. I'm not sure that the hukari evolved from the seax but I will agree that the modern leuku was probably influenced enough by the seax that it became distinct from the easier to make hukari... which assumes the hukari came first, I don't know the timeline of these developments.

I think that original hukaris were not just like taiter ones. I think that originally they were just some kind of big bladed knives, suitable for hitting, used by finnish soldiers in swedish army in late medieval, and later, times. In swedish army they also issued kind of saber like short swords that were called hukari in 1700s.

This makes sense to me, good information. Do you know how the Swedish Army issued the hukari to its troops in the 1700s? Was it issued like the "sabre briquette" was later in that era and during the Napoleonic, more as a fashion accessory or supplement to the bayonet than as a weapon? If bayonet was also carried (upon its development later in the century) with the hukari, then it seems that the Swedes were (again) very forward-thinking in equipping and organizing their troops, issuing a general purpose tool like the hukari. Would it be fair to say that the hukari, machete and leuku have a great deal in common, being big, heavy-bladed knives optimized for chopping? Is there a distinction, other than cultural preference, between the leuku and hukari? I know from reading the Varusteleka entry that the hukari were often made from cavalry sabres and the like.

I dont know too much about arming of the swedish army of that time. But I think that those issued "hukaris" were later replaced becouse they were clumsy as weapons as well as tools. Maybe "hukari" have never had really certain shape, maybe its used as word for almost any kind of really big knife. But word leuku clearly refers into specific kind of knife. Im not sure is the word "leuku" lappish or finish origin.